How to Train Your Dragon
by angrytardisnoises
Summary: Just little blurbs I wrote. Takes place during the setting and time of the first HTTYD movie. Not exactly AU, but doesn't follow the movie exactly. All the characters are themselves and the setting is the same. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

_Hello! My first ever fanfiction. I know, wow. Kind of sad. Anyway! Enjoy reading about Hiccup and Astrid and the whole team. This takes place during the events in the first HTTYD movie. All grammatical/spelling mistakes are my own (as I haven't sat down and hardcore edited it yet). Enjoy!_

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"Where are _you_ going?" A figure jumped down from a tall boulder in front of Hiccup. He fell on his back in alarm and stared up at the newcomer wide-eyed. Hiccup didn't fully realize it was Astrid until the sun caught her blond hair, braided in the back, and he relaxed a little.

"Oh, I was… well… going to… umm…" Hiccup stumbled with words. He didn't have an excuse, or so he could think of one. It was kind of hard to hide the fact that a very dangerous dragon (in the eyes of his town mates) was being kept in the woods a few miles from his village. But he knew that Toothless was harmless, as long as he ― Hiccup― could keep him under control.

Astrid unsheathed her longsword from her belt and pointed it down at Hiccup. "Look, I've noticed you slipping away almost every day after we're done training. I hope I'm the only one who saw, because they'll all be on your case if everyone found out. What are you doing? I want to know."

Hiccup sighed. Should he tell Astrid about this? She could be the only one he could trust… he definitely wasn't going to tell his dad, not even in the slightest chance. He couldn't tell Snotlout, he would want to kill Toothless straight away; nor the idiot twins or Fishlegs. "Follow me and I'll show you."

Astrid gave him a surprised look, and then sheathed her blade. "Lead the way." She gestured to the path in front of them.

Hiccup, unsettled, showed Astrid along the path that he made to reach Toothless every day. Once they reached the bowl-shaped basin, with the small pond in the middle, Hiccup gave a low whistle and then climbed down the creeping branches until his feet hit the grassy floor. Astrid's face had her normal expression that showed she could conquer anything, but she warily followed Hiccup down.

Hiccup peeped into the large crevice in the stone wall. He could see Toothless' scaly body in there, his green eyes watchful. "It's me." Once he spoke, Toothless seemed to recognize his voice and began to crawl out of his den. Hiccup saw Astrid grasping onto the bottom-most branches, gaping in frozen fear as Toothless came out, his black scales sparkling in the sunshine.

Hiccup turned towards Astrid and said, "Don't be scared."

Astrid suddenly turned reproachful towards Hiccup. "You have a dragon with you! And not any dragon… a Night Fury! You idiot!" She grabbed her sword and as it scrapped against her sheathe, Toothless turned his ferocious gaze at Astrid, his teeth bared. She pointed her sword at Toothless, and Hiccup reached to grab her sword.

"Stop, Toothless! No!" He yelled and placed a hand in front of his face, and then growled at Astrid, "Put the weapon down! Can't you see it's making him mad?!"

Astrid looked at Hiccup, like he was stupid or foolish. "_You've_ gone mad! How can you possibly… befriend a… DRAGON!"

Hiccup said quietly, "Trust me."

He noticed that Toothless was pawing the ground, but he raised his hand higher as a sign to stay calm. Astrid looked from Hiccup to Toothless than lowered her longsword. "You're asking a lot from me," She stabbed the tip of the sword into the ground, and held her hands wide open to the black dragon. "No weapon, see?"

Toothless glanced at the sword in the ground, then sniffed and turned around. He moved towards the pond to get a drink of water.

Astrid came over and pushed Hiccup to the ground. Hiccup collapsed, his legs coming out from beneath him, and his shoulder jabbed into a sharp rock as he landed with a _thud_. Toothless growled but didn't make a move towards them. "What do you think you're doing with a dragon?" She exclaimed, "We're trained to kill them, not raise them as pets!"

Hiccup got up and rubbed his sore shoulder. "I found him on the other side of the basin, injured with part of his tail missing. I wouldn't… couldn't kill him. So I decided to take care of Toothless."

"'Toothless?' Oh, so now you've given _it_ a name!" She waved her hand at the dragon by the pond. "You know you grow attached to something when you name it. Come on, Hiccup, it's a dragon!" She took a few steps backwards and grabbed hold of the creeping branches. "I have to tell the town about this. They need to know that there's a Night Fury loose on our island."

"No, Astrid!" Hiccup jumped forward and grabbed Astrid's arm. "You can't tell anyone about this! They'll kill him, and… I can't see him murdered for just being a dragon. Besides, he's injured and can't fly unless I'm riding him. He's stuck right here. Can't you understand?"

Astrid looked at him and shook his grasp off her arm. "I've never been able to understand you, Hiccup. You're not like us, and everyone has noticed that. And then to prove that you're not like us, you go and find a dragon and… train it... when we're supposed to kill them!"

"Can I at least show you something?" Hiccup said hurriedly. Maybe, if Toothless was in a good mood, he could take Astrid for a ride.

She glared at him. "What?"

"I want you to fly on Toothless."

"You're barking."

"No, I'm not. I've made a saddle and everything."

"You said he was injured."

"Yes, but I helped him heal. I created another part for his tail and… he can fly now."

"Wait," Astrid put her hands in the air. "You created another part for his… tail?"

"Yes."

Astrid just gave Hiccup a look. "You're crazier than I thought."

Hiccup raised his voice; his patience was starting to run low. "Why can't anyone believe me just once?" He glanced over at Toothless, who was watching him in return with a curious gaze. "Fine, go back and tell the towns people. But when they come to find us, we'll both be gone."

He turned away and crossed his arms. He listened for the sound of rustling as Astrid climbed back up… but none came to his ear. He twisted his head around and saw her playing with her sleeve. "I guess you could show me…" she finally said.

§ § §

"Okay, Toothless, we're staring in position one." Hiccup clicked the foot-pedal, and Toothless' man-made tail opened wide. Toothless bounded forward, and Hiccup and Astrid bounced in the saddle. He jumped up and took off into the air, his wings spread open.

"What is this?" Astrid grabbed hold of the saddle.

"Flying!" Hiccup simply answered. "Alright, Toothless, take it high." He clicked the foot-pedal to position five and his dragon flew straight up. The wind didn't whistle in Hiccup's ears, it blasted his ears, making it hard to hear anything. As they reached higher altitude, he seemed to get colder and colder. Then Toothless let out his wings and they floated aimlessly above the clouds, his tail seemed to be hitting the puffy cloud tendrils that reached out like fingers. Astrid was quiet, but Hiccup saw her looking around in every direction possible. She was holding her arms and he couldn't blame her, it was really cold up here.

Finally she mumbled, "Wow, this is… amazing." Hiccup then felt her arms reach across his middle, and she seemed to be holding on to keep warm. Hiccup didn't say anything, but he smiled.

"Toothless, let's head down and warm up."

The dragon closed his wings against his body and Hiccup switched to position three. With Astrid's arms still around his waist, Hiccup patted Toothless on the side and he swooped down, speeding towards the ocean.

Astrid yelped, "We're going to die!" and then buried her head in Hiccup's shoulder, a small scream tearing from her throat. But Hiccup knew that Toothless would come to a stop.

And he did.

He spread out his scaly wings and soared over the ocean, going towards the rocky cliffs. "Take it nice and easy, Toothless." Hiccup encouraged. "Go back towards the basin and gently land."

Toothless comprehended, and once Hiccup clicked to position two, he flapped his wings and zoomed over the land to the familiar little basin where they started. Trees blurred together as he began to land and once Hiccup finally went back to position one, Toothless spread his wings out wide and landed smoothly on the dusty ground by the little pond. Astrid was off first, and she immediately fell to her knees once she hit the ground. Hiccup praised Toothless then hopped down, completely used to the transition between flying and landing.

He sat down next to Astrid and asked, "What did you think?"

Astrid took in a ragged breath and croaked, "First, I don't think I'll be doing that for a while. And second, you're right. We need to keep this a secret."

Toothless snorted and headed into his den, leaving Astrid and Hiccup alone by the water's shore.

Astrid fingered the dirt and then said, sincerely, "Thanks for the ride, it was fun."

"It's still something Toothless and I need to practice."

"No, now _you_ don't understand!" Astrid retorted. "We've been living on this island for over three hundred years, fighting dragons and fending for ourselves; and you're the first one of our kind to actually train a dragon and ride it! Do you know how much that says?"

Hiccup felt hollow from her words. "That I'm not like everyone else."

"No, when I rode on Toothless… I seemed to look at the world a little differently. And now Hiccup, I don't think you're the same wimpy boy incapable of anything… who I knew before. I respect you more…"

Hiccup tore up a blade of grass. "Thanks, but I need everyone at home to think that."

Astrid looked at him with a sad shadow across her face. "I'm sorry I thought about all that before. Friends?" She outstretched her hand towards Hiccup.

He looked at it and shook it, "Friends."

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**WOW! I can't believe my first chapter is done! WOW! Thank you so much for reading! And stay tuned for the next. :)**

**Yours,**

**Gwynn**


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapteeeeeer 2! Up and ready to be read! Hiccup's starting to question whether he trusts Astrid. Let's see if she can hold up her end of the bargain. Enjoy!_

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Astrid went back to town first. Hiccup told her that walking back together would only raise suspicion. About an hour or so later, right as the sun was just touching the edge of the horizon and disappearing behind the trees, Hiccup patted Toothless on the side as a goodbye and made his way back to town.

Oddly enough, the town was silent as he approached the first houses, lanterns winking over every door. Only a few souls were out walking around, either running errands or leaving the mess hall and heading back home to bed.

Norrand nodded to Hiccup as he passed by and Hiccup innocently said hi. If he asked, his dad asked him to run to the blacksmith to get a sword repaired. He wasn't with a dragon. Not at all.

He opened the door to his house quietly, so as not to alarm his dad, and closed it, softly setting the deadbolt. He turned to run upstairs when he heard,

"Hiccup."

_Blast, _he said in his head. He looked at Stoick, whose massive structure was hunched over the fire. "Dad?"

"Where have you been?" He didn't look at Hiccup, and kept stirring whatever stew was in the pot.

"I…. uh…." Hiccup hesitated. _Think. Think!_ "I… Astrid… she wanted to show me some moves she learned. She agreed to help me train if I repaired her broken armor and weapons."

"Oh. That's a good trade. Does she teach well?"

Hiccup awkwardly reached behind his head and scratched the back of his neck. "Yes, she's very… knowledgeable. Anyway, I think… I think I'm off to bed. Long day tomorrow."

"Ah yes," his dad said, "Training."

"Yes," Hiccup said, "Well… goodnight."

Stoick muttered goodnight as Hiccup scrambled up the stairs and scurried to his room, shutting the door behind him. His back slid down the side of the door until he rested on the wooden floor, his legs splayed out in front of him.

"Oh…" Hiccup put his face into his hands, anxiety creeping up from his gut, making him feel nauseas. "This is going to be the hardest secret to keep."

§ § §

"Dragon training―" Gobbler grumbled, holding up his arm with a hook attached at the end. Some Monstrous Nightmare bit off his hand many years. Gobbler feels entitled to tell the story to the trainees almost every day while they're fighting dragons. Hiccup could probably recite the story from memory. "― is not something to take lightly. Dragons are fast and tricky. Precision is needed, and lots of agility and strength."

"Yeah, precision," Ruffnut nagged, "If only Hiccup had any of that."

Hiccup almost smacked the palm of his hand onto his face. He was getting tired of these small jabs from his peers every single day. They've said so many that it didn't even hurt Hiccup anymore, it only just caused a small churn in his stomach and then he was fine. He wasn't sure if he believed all they've said, or if his conscious was just denying that they were right. He felt that after what Astrid said to him last night, it raised his confidence, considering she wasn't making any more jabs.

Instead, she just gave him a weary glance after what Ruffnut said. Hiccup pursed his lips at her and looked away.

"All of you lack precision at some time," Gobbler said. "It takes training to achieve it." He gave Hiccup a sympathetic look. It rubbed Hiccup the wrong way.

_Stop looking at me like I'm a kicked sheep. _Hiccup muttered in his mind. _I don't want you to pity me._

"So," Gobbler said. "This morning we're going to deal with a very special dragon. Yes, yes." He hobbled over to the door, one peg leg clanking on the ground with every other step.

The dreaded door. The door that Hiccup hates being opened every single day. Only because that means he has to hide the secrets he's learned about dragons and pretend to know how to fight them. Or, well, convince the others that he's slowly learning how to fight them.

Of course he was the joke of the dragon trainees. Hiccup the dragon-lover. Hiccup the craven. Hiccup, the boy who's more afraid of dragons than girls. The nicknames didn't bother him anymore, maybe because he had become immune to Snotlout's, Ruffnut's, and Tuffnut's snide comments. Fishlegs was the only one who didn't say anything cruel to him. Fishlegs was the only one his age that Hiccup slightly considered as a friend, an acquaintance.

He glanced at Astrid again, who was wiping the blade of her axe off with her shirt, trying to rid of some make-believe dirt on the edge. Could he consider Astrid as a friend? A confident? She did learn about Toothless and has said nothing to anyone, which surprised Hiccup, considering she had the biggest blabbering mouth in the entire town. Did she value Hiccup's secret? Did she understand the gravity of the situation if she told anyone about Toothless?

Gobbler grasped the lever on the side of the massive door. "Today, we are going to deal with the Terrible Terror. Now, don't be put-off about its size, for the power packed inside of it is worse than the Monstrous Nightmare."

The group of dragon trainees all seemed to gather in an anxiously ragged breath together as Gobbler wrenched the lever downward and the weight that held the door closed was released. But instead of the entire door slamming open, a small door right at the corner of the large door popped open.

"What…?" Snotlout could only get out before a green dragon the size of a large cat leapt out and growled.

Tuffnut burst out laughing, almost hysterically. "Look at that thing!" His long gangly body danced over to the dragon and he pointed his sword at the menace, "It's as big as my―"

He was interrupted as the Terrible Terror jumped and clamped down on his nose. Tuffnut started wailing, clawing at the dragon to get it off. He fell to the ground with a thump and started frantically crawling backwards, shaking his head.

Astrid sighed and walked over to Tuffnut. She took the blunt side of her axe, aimed it at the dragon, and whacked it with all her might. The Terrible Terror let go of Tuffnut's nose and tumbled across the training floor from the force of Astrid's hit.

"Nice one, Astrid!" Snotlout praised her. "I knew you could do it. Well, you always can."

Hiccup felt a twinge of jealousy in his gut. Everyone knew that Snotlout had been trying to woo Astrid for about a year, every since she showed up at dragon training and almost chopped a Deadly Nadder's head off with one hit. However, it seemed that Astrid always turned a blind-eye on him and never noticed his advances. For some reason, that always made Hiccup mentally laugh. Poor Snotlout, Hiccup would tell himself.

Astrid ignored Snotlout, like usual, and went after the Terrible Terror. Hiccup wanted to stop her. There was no need to kill the dragon. He remembered a trick he played on Toothless, where he got a bit of light to reflect on the ground and it distracted Toothless like a wolf gets distracted by its prey. The Terrible Terror started to stand up, shaking its head as Astrid approached.

Hiccup scurried up to Astrid's side and put a hand on her shoulder. She glared at him and said, "What are you going to do? Pet it?"

It felt like a hit to his stomach. He thought Astrid was done being cruel?

Hiccup grabbed his shield and held it up so the metal caught the sunlight and created a small circle of light on the stone floor of the training room. The small dragon immediately saw the glimmer of the sunlight and stared at the circle of light. It wiggled its backside and immediately tried to pounce on the light, but Hiccup moved the light right as the Terrible Terror pounced. It made a frustrated noise and continued to follow the circle of light until Hiccup flashed it under the small doorway and the dragon slid under the door. Hiccup kicked the door closed and held it with his foot as he felt something hit it from the inside to get it open. Gobbler pulled the lever and then set the deadbolt again so the door was securely locked.

There was complete silence in the group of dragon trainees, even Gobbler seemed shocked. Fishlegs accidentally dropped his axe and it clattered to the ground. Tuffnut and Ruffnut had the same bewildered expression, although Tuffnut was holding his nose, blood dripping on his fingers. Snotlout's jaw almost hit the floor, and his eyes were wide. Astrid just gave Hiccup a concerned look. There was no surprise in her eyes. Instead, it was a cautious look, like a nonverbal warning. _Be careful, _her gray eyes spoke,_ If they get even a hint of what you can do, you're in a lot of trouble._

And Astrid was right. He had to be extremely careful about what he showed. His dad would investigate and find Toothless. His dad knew everything and anything about the goings-on on the island. It only made sense since he was the leader of the town, but that didn't help Hiccup in his situation.

"Well…" Hiccup fumbled. "If we're done for today… I… should be going." And with that he scrambled out of the training room and bolted for the door, leaving his shield at the entrance.

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**Wow. Even I'm a little unsure about Astrid. Hmmmm. And you think Hiccup could have pulled his escape a little smoother? But, well, that's Hiccup for you! *oozing sarcasm* Our smooth, smooth guy. Stay tuned for chapter 3 coming soon.**

**Yours,**

**Gwynn**


End file.
